For two days before my trip began, I checked the weather obsessively. I was connecting up to Toronto to begin my first class oneworld award. Missing the start of the trip would be a serious pain. Fortunately oneworld awards are pretty changeable, even after travel begins, but there are no changes to routing. And if I don’t even start the trip, then I’m at the mercy of award availability… from the looks of things I could fly Toronto – Hong Kong – Manila in first class the next day if I missed my outbound flight. But certainly that availability could have changed, especially with Cathay Pacific where availability sometimes seems to come and go for no logical reason at all. I certainly didn’t want my first class flight to Hong Kong to turn out to…
Hotel Report 2010
Tag Archives for Hotel Report 2010.
Another Excellent Stay at the Westin Diplomat
Several folks asked me about this post from yesterday morning, the sunrise photo I was waking up to, where I was? It was another great stay at the Westin Diplomat. This isn’t the nicest or most refined property in Starwood, or even of theirs in South Florida. There’s a new W in Ft. Lauderdale that was tempting to check out. But this hotel offers the very best Platinum elite treatment of any property, anywhere. They have something like 86 suites in the upgrade pool, about three-quarters of which are “corner suites” — a bedroom and separate living room with small dining area and large bathroom. These suites have a wraparound balcony looking straight out at the Atlantic ocean, and to the side the ability to see the Intracoastal Waterway as well. With this many suites,…
My Choice of Property in the Fresno Hotel Wasteland
Fresno is something of a hotel wasteland. There’s a Marriott Courtyard, a couple of Holiday Inns, the local Picadilly chain (which years ago was about as nice as it got), a Radisson, a couple of La Quintas, and a well-placed Hampton. Supposedly there’s a Hyatt Place coming. Not a lot as far as full service properties go. And with a penchant for Starwood properties, I wind up at the Four Points. I wish it was further North, it is it’s on Blackstone (a main drag, across the street from a mall that’s been surpassed many times over and that’s fairly dead, and near a Starbucks and the 41 freeway) about 10 minutes from the airport. The neighborhood isn’t the best in Fresno, I lived there at one point in Northwest and this isn’t Northwest. Not…
Conrad Miami One-Bedroom Bay View Residence
Last weekend I stayed at the Conrad Miami. Hilton isn’t especially known for their Diamond treatment. Diamonds get full breakfast, access to a lounge when not on the executive floor, and promised upgrades aren’t meaningful (i.e. they don’t offer suite upgrades as part of the rules of the program). Then again, do I really count as a real Diamond? I made my status with a quick $40,000 churned through a Hilton Surpass American Express. In other words, it was earned quickly with a bit of credit card spend, not through loyalty to the chain. So I’ll take what I can get! And at the Conrad, I got more than I was paying for (a $220 rate, I believe): a one-bedroom bay view residence. Valet parking on arrival was excellent, a staff member read my luggage…
